His Second Bride:Illegitimate

Chapter 14: Training To Be Strong

Chapter 14: Training to Be Strong

POV Ivory Costello

"I... Hate... You..." I gasped for breath after doing the most pushups and sit ups I had ever done in my life. I was sure I had done at least seven billion, if not more.

Elijah just chuckled at my state of breathlessness. I was lying on my back, flattened out on the floor and breathing like I had just run a marathon.

"How're you feeling' Ivory?" he asked, leaning a hand down to help me up. He had that stupid smirk on his face. I took his hand, letting him help me stand up.

"I feel like a million bucks," I muttered sarcastically. The truth was, my whole body was completely rebelling on me. I was sore everywhere, literally.

"Great, cause we're just starting," he smiled cheekily. I brought up a hand, ready to slap him, but I was so exhausted I couldn't even get it close to his face. Instead, I just dropped my hand to my side and heaved a long, drawn-out sigh.

He burst out laughing, again.

"Don't be so dramatic Ivory, I'm going easy on you now," he said. I glanced around the room, which was now mostly empty around us since... I didn’t know why. Everyone was on the opposite side of the gym to us. Maybe it was because Elijah was intimidating?

"If that's what you call easy I'd hate to see what you call hard," I grumbled, annoyed at him.

"I could show you Ivory," he winked. I glared, finally slapping him on the back of the head. "Ow," he groaned, rubbing the back of his head as he winced. I smirked in triumph.

"So, what are we going to do now?" I asked him casually, finally regaining my breath. "Well," he dropped his hand. "I'm going to teach you how to throw a punch," he chirped. "Come on Ivory, let's see if you have any muscles," he said, motioning for me to follow him.

We walked all the way from the mats over to a hanging punching bag. I looked at it, my head tilted to the side. What was I supposed to do exactly? Punch it, right? How...? "Okay, make your hands into fists," he said, his arms crossed over his chest.

I held my hands up in front of me, looking down at them as I made them into tight fists. When I finished, I looked up at him with a proud smile. He was frowning though. Despite myself, I frowned too.

"Keep your thumbs out of the fist, you don't want to break them," he grabbed both my hands, moving my thumb around on each one before folding both back into fists. It didn't make a difference to me really. "Okay?" I said questioningly as he dropped my hands again.

"Now, punch the bag," he ordered, patting the black bag with one hand.

I shrugged, making my right hand into a sloppy fist before punching the bag lightly.

He sighed deeply, dropping his arms to his side lamely. "We've got a lot of work to do with you Ivory," he mumbled, stepping closer to me. I backed up instantly. He smirked at my reaction.

"Stay still, I need to do something," he said. I bit my lip, staying still. He started to position my body with his hands.

First, he moved my legs to where they were slightly apart, one in front of the other a bit more.

"Keeping your legs like this will help you keep your balance," he said as he kept moving. He turned my shoulders to where they were slightly mimicking my feet.

"This will make it easier to turn your torso with each punch," he said, my breathing hitched since he was standing so close to me. Then he fisted my hands, in the way he had showed me too before.

"Remember, thumbs here, not here," he moved my thumbs on each fist for a moment before moving on.

From there, he bent my arms into a defensive stance with my fists near my face. "Always protect your face from hits, hands up," he said wisely.

Lastly, he tucked my chin down slightly, where it almost touched my chest.

"When you keep your head like this no one can punch your throat," he said, finally stepping back from me.

"Also, when you punch always, always, always breathe out," he said. I nodded, unsure of why I was supposed to. As if sensing this, he explained.

"That way if someone lands a punch on your while your punching the wind doesn't get knocked out of you. I nodded curtly. "Now, I'm going to show you how to punch properly," he stated, copying my stance. My eyes widened a fraction when I saw his muscles flex. He smirked slightly, noticing, but he didn't comment.

"To punch, you have to move your torso with your fist, so you get more control," he explained.

"Watch closely because you have to do this too," he said, he was completely focused again.

In slow motion, he punched his fist out. His whole body turned with the punch, in one fluid movement. I was taken aback at how graceful it looked to be perfectly honest. As he punched, he breathed out slowly to match his movements. Then he retracted his fist, going back to the position he was in before. When he finished, he dropped his stance and turned to me.

"Now you," he said like a teacher would speak to a student. I nodded.

At the same pace he punched, I did the same thing I saw him do. My torso twisted, and my feet stayed planted on the floor as I punched the air. I had remembered to breathe out as well. By the time I finished, he was standing next to me with a big smile.

"Good job Ivory, you did it right," he said proudly. I smiled in victory as I relaxed my body, resisting the urge to jump up and down in celebration.

"Now, speed up your punch to normal," he said, his smile gone and his focused look back. I nodded, getting back into a firm stance.

I threw a punch, since it was faster it had a bit more power to it that jerked my body slightly. He smiled, nodding in acceptance of the punch.

"Now hit the bag," he said. I turned my body towards the punching bag, readying my stance again.

I threw a strong punch, making the bag push back with the force my fist delivered. I pulled back, smiling to myself since the bag moved when it didn't before.

"Now watch me," he ordered. I let my body stand normally as I turned to watch him.

He took up the fighting stance, finally throwing a punch like I did. Then he looked at me, still in his stance as he spoke,

"You just did a single punch. But now I want to work on a one-two punch. Watch," he said.

He threw his right fist forward slowly, and as he drew it back all the way his other fist shot out to deliver a second punishing blow. Each time he breathed out, which I made mental note of. Even though he did it in slow motion, my mind was whirring to memorize his movements. When he stood normally he smirked at my reaction.

"Now it's your turn," he said. I nodded, closing my open jaw.

I turned to the bag, getting into position. Once I was ready, I copied his motion in slow motion. When I finished that, I didn't get out of position.

"Great, now speed it up to normal," he said. I could tell just from his voice that he was back into focus mode.

I threw the first punch, breathing out as I did so. Then my left first hit the bag as soon as my right one had retracted. The punching bag had moved back slightly as I punched.

"Good, again," he ordered. So again, I threw a one-two punch.

"Punch harder," he ordered. I took in a slight breath before putting a bit more force into the two punches.

"Harder, I know you can do this," he said.

This time, I punched as hard as I possibly could. The sound was so loud it covered up the sound of my breathing out. The bag flew back several inches with my first punch. When I threw the second one, breathing out, I made my fist fly even faster. The bag flew back almost a full foot then.

I was breathing heavily when I finished my second punch. My stance relaxed slightly as I looked over at Elijah.

His face was transformed into a shocked, open-mouthed look. My face burned, I must have done something wrong. I glanced around at the gym. I was so loud that the whole gym seemed to be stunned into silence.

"S-Sorry, did I do something wrong?" I asked him sheepishly, my stance falling back into my normal way of standing.

"No, that was perfect," he stressed each word. My jaw fell open slightly as his closed. He cleared his throat, making us both snap back into reality.

"I think that's enough for tonight," he said. I nodded, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Finally," I groaned, throwing my head back slightly as my whole body relaxed.

"I can't wait to get to my Chamber," I said in an exaggerated tone.